


Shave

by orphan_account



Category: RWBY
Genre: Crushes, How Do I Tag, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 10:56:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21427087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: In which Qrow gets hurt and Ironwood takes care of him.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/James Ironwood
Comments: 4
Kudos: 101





	Shave

**Author's Note:**

> It’s been so long since I’ve written for RWBY lmao wow. So, before you read, just know that this sucks. I literally just wrote all of it and I don’t really care enough to make it seem perfect. I like it the way it is.

It was yet again another long day at Atlas. Especially with well… everything. Ironwood sighs, sinking deep into his chair. He was so tired… of keeping up this facade, of Salem, of everything. He just wanted things to be normal, well, as normal as things could get around here. Today sucked, yesterday sucked, the week sucked, the month sucked, the year sucked. Everything sucked. Today was one of the bad days. Having to deal with an argument with Winter, Ruby and her crew continuously blatantly lying to his face, someone hacking into his systems, not being able to see Qrow, Ozpin… fuck. Life really did like to bite him in the ass.

Letting out a sigh, he scrubs his hand over his face. He needs to shave. Yet he can’t bring himself to care enough to. He doesn’t have time. Sighing once more, he shakes his head. Everyone’s lives were at stake and he’s here thinking about how he needs to shave. How unprofessional. Scolding himself quietly, Ironwood stands and goes to his table, deciding he needs to busy himself with work before he even thinks about going home. He’s tired…

Gripping the table, Ironwood busies himself with ease. Getting lost in his thoughts on how to destroy Salem and how to make things better again. Better for Atlas, better for Beacon, better for everyone. He wishes someone was here to bounce ideas off of. But he quickly sent Winter home after their fight, and he wanted Penny to be around her friends again. He didn’t want to bother Qrow, he already feels like he made things awkward with their hug. Ozpin definitely wasn’t an option either. He wants someone to talk to. Brushing away the thoughts, he swallows harshly. He doesn’t need anyone to talk to. He just doesn’t.

Ironwood was working for hours, getting distracted by nothing. He was going to work even longer, but then he heard something. Something that definitely wasn’t good. Swinging around to face the door, he whips his gun out. Whoever was out there clearly wasn’t trying to be quiet, judging by the amount of banging he could hear. Inching towards the door, his finger hovers over the trigger. It couldn’t be anyone too dangerous… right? No. There’s no way someone could make it this far and not be on his team. That relaxes him a little, but not enough. Who could be up this late? Who could be so loud this late?

Once Ironwood gets to the door, that’s when it opens. And rather than getting met with an enemy or a sleepwalking Jaune or Nora, he’s getting met with the familiar figure of Qrow, who’s leaning on his weapon like a lifeline before he crumbles to the floor. A pained groan escapes from his lips as he falls and Ironwood lowers his weapon immediately. Usually his first thought would be that Qrow was drunk, but the amount of blood covering the other man destroys that thought as soon as it arrived in his head. Qrow could very well be drunk, but that’s not the main problem right now.

“Qrow!” Gathering the man into his arms, he lifts the huntsman carefully and carries him into his office. Laying him on his table, he scans the other man's body for life-threatening wounds. Or any wounds at all. He would love for this to be someone else's blood right now. But he’s not that dumb. Qrow got into a fight. And whoever was the opponent knew what they were doing.

“I’m fine… I’m fine. Just a couple of… of scratches. Like cat scratches, y’know? Meow?” Ironwood ignores Qrow’s stupid excuse, tearing off part of his sleeve to wrap around an unsettling wound on his arm. He Qrow hisses at the pressure, trying to wave the other man off but not having enough energy to do so. Not like Ironwood would let him push him away. Ironwood continues scanning Qrow’s body, not finding any wounds that require immediate medical care, he counts that as a relief. Not a big one, but a relief nonetheless. He continues to wrap up anything he doesn’t like on Qrow’s body, while said man lets out a pained breath, resting his head onto the table.

Once Ironwood was done, he looks Qrow’s body up and down before making him sit up. He didn’t like the thought of Qrow falling asleep now. Not with whatever happened… happening. This was a great topper to an already terrible day. Qrow grumbles in protest as Ironwood lifts him into a seated position, mumbling about counting Grimm or… something. Ironwood shakes his head in fondness. How can someone in a time like this best so insufferably cute? Uhh… what? Nevermind.

Ironwood tilts Qrow’s head up to get a better look at his face, if it wasn’t already obvious that a fight went down, Qrow’s face sure does point it out. Ironwood thumbs away a streak of blood by his mouth, saying nothing as Qrow’s blood sinks into his glove. After a long pause, Qrow feels his heart skipping a beat out of nerves and adrenaline as Ironwood looks him dead in the eyes. His voice is quiet and tense, anger barely restrained, “Who did this to you?”

It’s silent once more, Ironwood waiting for an answer as Qrow tries to think of what to say. It’s been a long time since they’ve seen each other like this. You can’t blame either of them for trying to take it all in. Qrow decides his best bet to lighten the situation is humor. You can never go wrong with humor. Well… sometimes. But that’s not the point.

“I think you’d be used to seeing my close to death by now.” Qrow lets out a lopsided smile, though Ironwood’s stays the same, not even a smirk breaks the mans face. Qrow’s smile soon feels awkward, and it falls off his face quickly. Okay… well… he thought it was funny. Not his fault Ironwood lost all his humor. If he ever had any in the first place.

“That’s not funny.”

Qrow opens his mouth to speak once more but decides against it. He averts his gaze and instead stares at the floor. Ironwood’s eyebrows furrow, not understanding why Qrow was acting like this. Then he remembers that it’s Qrow and he’s always like this. Sighing, he removes his hand from the huntsman’s face, wishing that they could touch each other under different circumstances. He quickly shakes that thought away.

“Qrow. I need you to tell me who did this to you.” They’re silent once more. Qrow finally meets Ironwood’s stare, they seem to have a silent conversation before his question is answered. Ironwood doesn’t think it’s much of a surprise that it was Tyrian. It’s just annoying that now he has to try to hunt the guy down. And it pisses him off deeply that the fucker went for Qrow. He’d rather Tyrian not go for anyone, but especially not his Qrow.

Silence once again, it’s like that for what feels like forever. Ironwood studying Qrow’s body, and Qrow feels himself getting warmer the longer the other man stares at him. Wow… he felt like some school girl with a crush on the popular kid. He might as well say he’s getting hot under his collar. How embarrassing.

“Listen… uh, James. I should go. I’m not sure why I… came here to begin with. Uh… so… yeah…” Qrow goes to stand and make his escape, but a large hand on his chest keeps him in place. He inhales sharply, looking up at Ironwood with wide eyes as he’s gently pushed back down onto the table. Licking his lips, a soft sigh ends up escaping his lips.

“I don’t want you going anywhere right now. Not without protection. Proper protection.” Ironwood’s voice was stern, his mind definitely set on what he said. Qrow lets out another sigh, more annoyed than the last as he rolls his eyes.

“I can protect myself, James.” He goes to stand once more, but Ironwood’s hand still hadn’t left his chest and Qrow finds himself stuck in place. Glaring at the other man, he feels his throat start to tighten at the look Ironwood is giving him. Maybe… maybe her was right. That doesn’t make Qrow any less irritated by it though.

“Okay… well. Walk me to my place then… buddy.” Qrow slaps a hand on Ironwood’s shoulder, giving him a toothy grin. Things feel too tense in this room right now, the mood needs to lighten up somehow. Ironwood nods, deciding he would rather be the one to lead Qrow back to his room than anyone else. Before the huntsman knows it, he’s being lifted into the air and placed onto the ground. As much as Ironwood would like to carry the other man, he figures Qrow’s wounds and Qrow himself wouldn’t like it very much.

Qrow uses Ironwood as support as they go to where Qrow’s staying, not that Ironwood minds. Though he’s not going to admit he just likes the human contact. Qrow wouldn’t admit it either. The walk doesn’t take too long, but longer than it really should have. They were both walking slower than they’re willing to confess. Maybe to be able to spend more time with each other, though if it ever got brought up they would just excuse it as Qrow being injured. Once they get to Qrow’s room, Ironwood can’t help but wish they would’ve walked a little slower. The more time he spends with Qrow the better he feels. But it’s not like this is the last time he’ll be seeing the huntsman.

“Thanks for keeping me company, James.” Qrow gives the other man a soft smile, Ironwood feels his chest tighten. He swallows as he returns the smile. He wants to stay here forever with Qrow. Standing with him, breathing the same air as him, touching him. Licking his lips, he forces the thoughts away once more before he responds.

“Thanks for letting me walk with you, Qrow.” He didn’t need to say that, they both knew that Ironwood would be walking with him anyways. But he just felt the need to say it. Qrow’s smile gets almost unnoticeably bigger, Ironwood wouldn’t have been able to notice it if he wasn’t already looking at Qrow’s mouth to begin with.

They seem to stare at each other for what feels like hours, that seems to have happened a lot in their time together. The silence is almost insufferable at this point. Ironwood wants to just say ‘fuck it’ and kiss Qrow right on the spot. But he doesn’t. That’s unprofessional. And he… he’s professional. Qrow seems to have other ideas though.

“Well… I’ll see you around, James.” Before Ironwood knows it, Qrow’s planting a kiss on his cheek, and time seems to stop completely. He feels himself holding his breath as the world spins around him, with Qrow being the only clear thing in his sight. As Qrow pulls away, he speaks in a teasing tone, “You need to shave.”

As with that, Qrow goes into his room, shutting the door behind him and leaving Ironwood standing in place trying to piece his life back together. Oh… so that’s how it’s going to be, he always knew Qrow was the type to tease.

Ironwood decides the first thing he’s doing when he gets home is to shave.

**Author's Note:**

> THAT HUG FROM THE SECOND EPISODE FUCKED ME UP AND NOW I’M IRONQROW TRAAAASSHHHHH WOOOOOOO
> 
> Anyways haha, if you got this far I hope you enjoyed! Please let me know if I need to add anymore tags!


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